At the Shoreline
by Mikauzoran
Summary: Heiji has never been able to get over Shinichi even after Heiji's marriage and even after Shinichi moved in with Kaito. Now, as Heiji tries to pick up the pieces of his life, he joins the couple at Shizuoka and has an unexpected conversation with his "rival".


Mikau: Hello there! Thank you for joining me. This is my entry for the Poirot Café Forum's Super Short Contest 35: Beach, featuring Miho Beach. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Yesterday, I could not for the life of me remember the word "disclaimer". It was _sad_. I thought, "You've been writing fanfiction for going on fourteen years now, and this word has appeared at the top of every chapter you've posted—hundreds of chapters, Mikau!—and now you can't remember it?" I don't own DCMK, by the way. The characters should be glad of this. I'd make them suffer greatly, if I did.

…

At the Shoreline

The third time his phone rang, Shinichi picked up.

"Hey. Hattori. Hold on a sec." Shinichi held the phone away and called, "Kaito, talk to Hattori, okay?"

There was a rustling noise, the sound of strong wind, before Kaito came on the line. "Hei-chan? What's up?"

Heiji internally cursed but reminded himself to be nice, seeing as Kuroba had the power to make Heiji's life hell…more hell. "Kudo on a case er somethin'?" he guessed. Normally, Heiji was not unceremoniously brushed aside unless something truly important was going on.

"Or something," Kaito sighed, almost blending in with the wind.

"Where th' hell are you? It sounds like yer goin' through a wind tunnel," Heiji snorted.

"Shizuoka," Kaito responded laconically, sounding bored. "I wanted to go to the beach."

Heiji frowned. "It's November."

"It was a whim," Kaito explained in a clipped tone that indicated his vacation had been hijacked by a case. "Shinichi spoils me. We're staying at a super ritzy hotel with these outdoor baths that are to die for—not literally—and I was having a really good time, but then a body washed up on the beach half an hour ago, and apparently it's the third one in as many weeks, so now it seems like Shinichi is on the case."

"Oh." Heiji pursed his lips, holding it in. He didn't know exactly what "it" was, but he was certain that "it" would be ugly and vicious and full of his pent-up jealousy towards Kaito if he let "it" out. He could feel it clawing up his throat.

"You needed something?" Kaito reminded.

"…Yeah," Heiji sighed. "I was jus'…callin' Kudo t' see if I could come stay with you guys for a while, but…"

"Come to Shizuoka," Kaito suggested, tone brightening. "We'll be here the rest of the week—longer if that's what it takes for Shinichi to solve the case. Our room's big enough for three."

Heiji grimaced. "I wouldn't wanna intrude."

Kaito lowered the phone and shouted to Shinichi over the howl of the wind. "Shinichi! Hei-chan's coming here to stay with us, okay?"

Heiji could barely pick up the response. It sounded like, "Perfect! He'll be a huge help on the case." Maybe that was just wishful thinking on Heiji's part.

"Looks like it's settled," Kaito decreed. "Call me when you get in, and I'll pick you up at the station. Bye-bye." And he hung up.

…

Two and a half hours later, Heiji got off the shinkansen at Shizuoka and transferred trains. He disembarked at Shimizu Station and found Kaito waiting for him on one of the benches.

The other young man smiled half-heartedly, waving Heiji over. "Hungry?"

Heiji shook his head. "I picked up somethin' at Shizuoka Station before hoppin' on the local."

Leading the way to the exit, Kaito got Heiji up to speed. "Shinichi's running around town after leads; I have no idea where he is, but he said he'd meet back up with us at the hotel for dinner at six thirty. He'll catch you up on the case then."

Heiji nodded his assent, and Kaito continued, "We've got about thirty more minutes until sunset, and I want to walk on the beach. Cool?"

Heiji shrugged. "Sure. Whatever ya want, Kuroba."

They dropped Heiji's almost nonexistent luggage off and walked down to the beach. The wind was still fiercely blowing, and the area was nearly deserted as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Heiji kicked sullenly at the rocks making up the shoreline. "Ya picked a crappy beach," he snorted. "There's not even any sand."

"I _wanted_ rocks." Kaito clicked his tongue and frowned in return. "What crawled up your pants leg and bit you? I know you don't like me much, but you're not usually _this_ grumpy."

Heiji took a deep breath, picked up one of the rocks, and flung it into the ocean. "You and Kudo dating yet?"

Kaito shook his head.

"You've been livin' with him for two years, playin' secretary at his detective agency, makin' his food, doin' his laundry, sharin' his bed…when er you two gonna admit yer in a relationship already?" Heiji growled.

"It's not a traditional relationship," Kaito patiently tried to explain. "It's not even a traditional non-traditional relationship. It's easier to introduce me as 'roommate' rather than 'guy I live with just to fill the void in the chaotic mess my life has become'."

"But you love him," Heiji pressed.

"Not like that," Kaito mumbled.

"And _he_ loves you," Heiji insisted.

"Not like _that_ ," Kaito repeated, stopping to look Heiji in the eye. "The part of him that was able to be in love with someone broke when Ran-san died…and I have my own trauma. Hattori, what Shinichi and I have isn't a relationship. It's called co-dependence."

Kaito turned away, and they walked in silence, listening to the roar of the wind and watching Mount Fuji slowly fading into the encroaching darkness.

"Do ya think Kudo would consider some kind of arrangement like that with me?" Heiji spoke up only just loud enough to be heard.

Kaito shrugged. "I don't know. He's not really into guys."

"Oh? So he jus' makes an exception for you because yer special?" Heiji barked.

"I can look like Ran-san," Kaito gently corrected. "Our eyes are the same purple-blue, our hair the same texture. I'm there when he wants me, gone when he doesn't. I don't judge or pity him, and I don't want more from him emotionally than he can give. I _am_ special."

Heiji looked away.

"…You can ask," Kaito continued softly long after Heiji had assumed the conversation had ended. "But I don't think it would work. You're actually in love with him. Besides, what would your wife say?"

Heiji stumbled but managed to catch himself. He cleared his throat. "Kazuha…got tired of not being my most important person. She's divorcing me."

Kaito stopped, eyes wide and a look of profound sadness on his face that went deeper than sympathy.

Kaito hadn't even made it to the altar. She'd found out his secret and…

"Give me a day or two to work something out. I'll talk to Shinichi."

Heiji frowned in suspicion.

"I'm warning you, though. You're only going to end up hurt," Kaito cautioned.

Heiji answered with conviction, "I don't care."

Kaito nodded with a melancholy grin. "Okay. Just promise me one thing. If I do this for you and he does end up returning your feelings…don't cut me out." Kaito held out his hand. "Okay?"

Heiji only hesitated for an instant. "Deal."

The

End

…

Mikau: I'll let you decide what happens next. This was just a kind of thought I had yesterday when trying to come up with something for the Super Short Contest with the beach theme. I wanted to do a cold, bleak beach as opposed to a fun, summery beach, and that led to kind of a melancholy scenario. Poor boys. They're all so broken and just trying to keep it together. For those who are curious, Ran got caught up in a case Shinichi was working on, and he's never been able to forgive himself. Thanks for reading, guys!


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